THOUSANDS OF WOMEN ENDURE AGONISING HYSTEROSCOPIES EACH YEAR WITH NO ANAESTHETIC IN OUTPATIENT CLINICS ACROSS THE UK. CAMPAIGNERS ARE FIGHTING FOR CHANGE
While recent focus has been on the underfunding of doctors’ salaries, budget constraints are causing quiet crises in other areas of the NHS too
By Isabella McRaeBig Issue Social Justice Reporter
Caroline remembers screaming. It was like an electric shock which went from her neck to her toes. It was like being tasered in her most intimate area. She could not move because she was scared. She called out to the doctor to stop.
“I can’t believe what happened to me was done in an NHS hospital,” Caroline, 56, says. “I feel that if they were wearing black balaclavas it would have suited what I experienced more. I felt like I was subjected to a very violent assault. That is the trauma that I’m dealing with now.”
Caroline is one of thousands of women who have faced excruciating pain when undergoing a hysteroscopy, a medical procedure used to examine inside the womb, where biopsies may be taken. It is used to detect cancer, pre-cancer and other benign abnormalities.
One in three women face severe pain during a hysteroscopy – rating it at least seven out of 10 – according to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG). That means thousands of women in the UK could be traumatised by this medical procedure each year.
Campaigners believe the NHS is failing to properly inform patients of the pain they may endure. The NHS website describes it as a “simple” and “relatively quick” procedure which is “not usually carried out under anaesthetic”.
But women who have spoken to The Big Issue describe feeling “violated” during a hysteroscopy. They believe they were unable to give “informed consent” and some have been left with long-term physical and psychological trauma.
“I would have expected what I went through to be done in a torture chamber,” Caroline, who is based in Colchester, says. “I would not have expected it to be in my local hospital and classed as a minor outpatient like you’re going to get your ears pierced.”
If patients were warned beforehand they may face severe pain, they could make an informed decision about the pain relief they need. Local and general anaesthetic is occasionally offered, but most patients are told they’ll manage on paracetamol.
The Campaign Against Painful Hysteroscopy (CAPH), a grassroots organisation founded by women with lived experience, has gathered more than 5,000 t
